Greatness

I tiptoed my way to the threshold,
   hesitated,
      recoiled,
         lost my balance,
but then,
   when the unforgiving second wound down,
I found my footing.

I breathed in the world:
   Its fragrances and fumes,
and lit a fire in my lungs.

I’m a titan and an elf,
   a man of flesh and bone,
of rippling sinews,
   and a counselor to kings.

But I am,
   most gracefully and beautifully,
a loving son and brother—
   a friend when darkness drops low.

A Woman Who's Touched My Life

Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is a mystery.
Today is a gift.
That's why it's called the present. :]

There is a diminutive old lady named Teresa Gadja, who is truly a giantess of humanity. Teresa is somewhere in her mid-80s; I know her and of her because, as a devoted Nine West customer, she’s taken the joy of sharing her life story with me, with all its tumult and triumph. I, on my part, have taken the joy of listening and sharing her story with all of you.

Teresa is a Hungarian-German Jew who survived the persecution and genocide unleashed on Hungary by Adolf Hiter during WWII. One day, the Nazis came to her home and forced her family, along with thousands of others, out at gunpoint. They transported her to Poland in a truck filled to the tiniest corner with men, women and children. The ones who didn’t survive the trek were simply dumped outside during periodic “trash stops.” They were taken, among other places, to Auschwitz.

Teresa managed to survive the Holocaust unscathed. Following the war, she emigrated to Germany where she worked as a common maid and housekeeper during the post-war years. She’s very particular about expressing that she was just happy to be alive and working. It wasn’t till the mid-50s that her and her husband got the opportunity to go to the U.S. They never returned to Germany. Her husband is dead now, but Teresa’s spirit and joie de vivre is as alive as ever.

Teresa still exercises and dances. The fact that she buys her shoes at Nine West says enough in itself. I think she’s easily our oldest regular customer. She’s truly a historic relic. But she doesn’t delve in the past unless prodded. “Ven you get as old as I am,” she tells me in her beautiful German accent, “you gotta just live in the moment.” That is probably not the average perspective of someone her age. If this woman who has seen the rise and fall of empires and the cataclysmic change of a generation can live in the moment, it goes without saying that we all can.

Whatever you do, live in the moment. Tomorrow is not promised. Variations of this truism have riddled the pages of history. Here’s James Dean’s, who died abruptly at 24 in a car crash: “Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.” Never has so much wisdom been expressed by so young a man.

Letter to Obama

Taking heat from reporters

Dear Mr. President,

I congratulate you on your recent killing of Osama bin Laden, even though this is the most inhumane thing you have done as president and the vast majority of America (including myself) is not convinced that he is dead, anyhow. So I suppose I’m thanking you because, let’s face it, this very likely means that you will serve a second term as president, and the American public will be spared from another nutjob like Sarah Palin, George W or Donald Trump--although, as for Mike Huckabee or Newt Gingrich, I probably wouldn’t mind them at this point. But Mr. Obama, what’s going on! For a moment there, I thought you were going to overhaul and change the system: a new Lincoln, a modern-day Franklin D. Roosevelt; most importantly, a fresh Thomas Jefferson, who believed a revolution is due every generation. Instead, you have stagnated on important environmental issues by maintaining the status quo of not joining the Kyoto Protocol and thus mandating the U.S. to reduce gas emissions (most of Europe is already onboard, or soon will be). After your speech in Cairo early in your presidency, you have largely ignored the Middle East (except to continue that evil, oil-driven war in Afghanistan). Palestine and Israel are still precisely where they were after the end of the Camp David Accords, all these years later; Gaza is still holed in, and Israeli bulldozers are still knocking down Palestinian houses like dominos. You have still failed to recognize the integrity of Cuba, and have engaged in a Kennedy-era mentality that deem Fidel and Raul Castro the Satans of the Caribbean.

I know how hard it is to effect change with such a divided, bipartisan Congress (and maybe I, like so many other Americans, am asking for too much), but you worked your magic with your Obamacare legislation. Can’t you do it again? As the saying goes, can’t you lay another egg? I do a Google Images search of you and my query generates endless side-by-side comparisons of you and Herbert Hoover. The last thing you want for your legacy is to be compared to Hoover. Hoover is the very embodiment of incompetence and, more sourly, impotence. To be clear, the crowd that views you as ineffectual is not the same crowd that views you as a contemporary of Hitler or Heath Ledger’s version of the Joker (those are the Sarah-Palin-touting idiots--and those we can ignore). These are everyday, thinking Americans who simply and genuinely feel let down by your broken promises and failed agendas. This all makes me miss Joe the Plumber a little; at least this rambling, out-of-work Joe Six-pack who wasn’t even a real plumber kept you on task.

Ok, so you did some things with bank and credit regulation, but nowhere near enough. The fact of the matter is that another recession is already simmering. We can say goodbye to the Clinton Years and balancing the deficit (which of itself wasn’t even that much of an accomplishment). We can hail back in the Reagan trickle-down economics bullcrap that was simply code for To the wealthy go the spoils and the hell with everybody else. Mr. Obama, I need for you to look at me in my eyes: Is this what you want for your legacy? Because I’ll tell you something, no statue has ever been erected to the man who did nothing.

I really REALLY don’t want to join the chorus of critics and nay-sayers who have constantly been hounding you in the last few months, but you are getting to be a very disappointing president. Maybe somewhere along the way we forgot that you are only a man with very limited powers, even for your position. Maybe we forgot that you inherited a disaster unbefitting every president except Roosevelt. Maybe we all expected too much from you. But are we wrong for this? After all, you ran your campaign under the banner of change and hope. Look sir, we (at least I) still believe in you, but if you don’t do something big--quick--that faith will simply continue to erode. Mr. President, don’t let me down!

To this day, the most famous biography of George W. Bush (and a great read, too!) is Jacob Weisberg’s The Bush Tragedy. It’d be a shame and misfortune if history chooses as your favorite biography something along the lines of The Obama Disaster. A damn shame.

Mr. President, shrug off your cobwebs and begin once more the great work of the people. History demands it. Remember: a revolution is due every generation. Ours is well past due.

Caught in the Act

Yesterday I was cited for a moving traffic violation for the first time in my life. I can’t complain. After all, it was completely merited: I was going the wrong way on a one-way street.

Let me make clear: I was very aware of what I was doing. My rationale for doing it was that it was only a quarter-block in an empty residential street and, surely, no one would notice. How wrong I was! Before seconds, an officer was trailing me with his lights flashing. I was caught in the act.

I should’ve known better. Wrong-way drivers annoy me and I’ve always found this particular behavior to be brash, dangerous and reckless. So the question then is, Why did I do it? My subconscious reasoning at that moment probably ran thus: I’ve never gotten ticketed before because I’m a very conservative driver. I hardly ever go past 35mph. It’s only a quarter-block on a deserted residential street. I think I get a pass this time. What my subconscious Voice of Reason should’ve told me was, You yourself deplore this behavior so don’t subject the members of this community to this same type of shenanigans. After all, that’s hypocrisy. And even worse, it’s plain recklessness.

My good friend Vic Conant highlights the personal flaws of Bill Clinton, Kobe Bryant and Martha Stewart in his audio CD series, This I Believe. These three individuals can be described as being morally upstanding; however, minor character flaws eventually blew up to become great public downfalls. It happened because, little by little, they began to make more immoral exceptions in their behavior that were ultimately doomed to catch up with them.

I commend the officer for the great job he did. I was a weasel and deserved my ticket. I have resolved, however, to tune in to my higher reasoning in the future--and to stray from hypocrisy. Character is built by the consistency of integruous behavior. And no matter how conservative a driver one is, one should never make reckless or illegal exceptions. But here’s the profound lesson in all this: No matter how upstanding one is in life, one should never make minor immoral exceptions. These can potentially pave the way for major moral injunctions. That’s what happened to Bill, Kobe and Martha.

Don’t let it happen to you.

Free Stuff

I’ve noticed over the last few months that I get something free from public establishments just about every day, whether they be restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations, retail stores, and you name it. I began wondering why this was so before I realized that the answer is actually quite simple: I’m a great customer!

Okay, so this might be a little bragging but hey, the proof is in the pudding. Generally when I walk into any establishment, I give everyone there my brightest and best smile, and radiate all my love to whoever’s job is to take care of me. Being in customer service myself, I know the mundane but real frustrations of this person. I know, for example, that the customer is not always right and that he or she very likely has to deal with their fair share of butt holes every day. You see, great, exceptional customer service begins with the customer. Many people forget that. Don’t get me wrong, however, as a manager I’ve had to master the art of dealing with tough customers both respectfully and diplomatically (and this is undoubtedly one of the best career skills I’ve gained), but it’s much easier to deal with a pleasant customer than a difficult one--and, more importantly, I can do more for a pleasant one than a tough one because the effort is natural, almost as natural as the air I breathe. Not only that, it just feels good.

The cashier might’ve made a mistake and overcharged me. So what? We’re all human and make honest mistakes; he or she is no exception. The sales associate may not know where my wanted item is located on the sales floor. Fine, I’ll find it myself and make a joy of looking for it, but thank you for all your help, sir.

I often (too often, as you can imagine) write letters and make phone calls to managers and corporate customer feedback departments recognizing the efforts of employees who go above and beyond to take care of me. I don’t look at it as time wasted but rather an investment in the development of a member of the professional workforce and, above all, a human being.

Somebody told me the other day, after sharing my free stuff stories with them, “Look, I’m not gonna be fake and pretend to be something I’m not.” My immediate, guttural response was, Fine, don’t get free stuff then. But I kept it to myself. Instead, I told him the truth: that deep inside, whether we realize it or not, we’re all generous. The generosity is always there; it’s simply looking for an outlet. And practicing generosity on members of the professional workforce is one way to harness this great intrinsic attribute.

Having a pleasing personality, as Napoleon Hill reminds us in Think and Grow Rich, is a skill that can take us very, very far--not simply the narrow avenues of getting free things. Look at how far it took Andrew Carnegie. This is not to understate other important attributes that we need for self-development; however, in many instances, being pleasant, generous and buoyant can be the best career move we make.

If you don’t know where to start, a warm smile is a good place.

Why We Shouldn't Celebrate Bin Laden's Death

The mastermind of 9/11, Osama bin Laden, a man who has personified evil for millions, is dead. History will note this day. The course of history, however, will not change. The progression of the human race shouldn’t change, either. Yes, he killed 2300 people. Yes, he killed untold hundreds before that. Yes, he funded terrorist causes around the globe. NO, we shouldn’t celebrate his death. No one’s death is a cause for celebration. This may seem irrational and even heartless, but when we kill someone we revert to a barbarism that is distant and even injurious to our higher nature. In short, we lessen ourselves, regress as a society, and suffocate our souls.

I was a staunch believer in the death penalty until a few months ago. One powerful little movie changed all of that: Dead Man Walking. The movie portrays a man who is indeed guilty of the crime, but highlights (very subtly, such that its true meaning is open to interpretation) the immorality and horror of vengeance. Maybe the death of my brother softened my stance on death, but there’s no denying that once a powerful idea takes root, nothing can stop it. I will never applaud a death again. Ghandi’s famous words, “An eye for an eye will make the world blind,” is as true now as its ever been. If all we take from it is nothing more than a cute bumper sticker, we are missing out on something wholly profound.

Bin Laden wasn’t a good man, but I will not celebrate his death. As much God flows in me as flowed in him. He, like Hitler and so many countless men of evil before him, lost his way somewhere along the path. There’s no justification for his actions, but there’s no justification for his death either.

What, then, should we have done with him? I don’t pretend to be a political scientist, but maybe Guantanamo Bay or some secret prison somewhere on the fringes of the world would’ve made a good home for him. And let’s not forget, that even before prison, he deserved his day in the Hague. Have we forgotten the values which we so proudly stand for?

There’s a powerful line from the Tao te Ching that says, “When you win a war, you celebrate by mourning.” I won’t go so far as to mourn Bin Laden’s death, but the relevance of the message applies to his death. We should mourn that what was at one point undoubtedly a beautiful soul somehow lost its way. Rather than shout and frolic shamelessly in the streets, we should hold silent vigil for the 2300 men and women who died on that fateful day, and for the spiritual perdition of a man.